Curried Garbanzos

Curried Garbanzos (Originally from Meatless Monday, but I've altered it a little)

1 large onion, coarsely chopped
3-4 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbls. oil
1-2 tsp. curry powder
2 15 oz cans garbanzos (chickpeas), one drained and one not
juice of 1/2 lemon
2 tbls. tomato paste
2 tbls. peanut butter

Saute onion and garlic in oil over medium heat until soft. Add the curry powder and cook for a minute or two until it gets nice and fragrant. Add the garbanzos (including liquid from one can), lemon, and tomato paste. Cook for about 5 minutes. Take out about half the mixture from the pan and puree it in a blender (or if you have a hand blender, stick it in the pan and blend up part of it--you want some garbanzos left whole, but some puree to make the sauce thick). Keep cooking for another five minutes or so, then add the peanut butter and cook just a few more minutes. Serve with rice. This tastes really good with a carrot salad or a nice cucumber/yogurt salad.

Middle Eastern Rice & Lentils, Greek Salad

Middle Eastern Rice and Lentils

1/2 medium onion, chopped
1 tbls. olive oil
1 cup brown rice (has to be brown)
1 tbls. tomato paste
2 1/2 cups water
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 cup lentils
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup slivered almonds or pine nuts, toasted

In a large saucepan, sautee the onion in the oil until it is soft (medium heat). Add the rice and cook and stir for a few minutes until it is toasted. Add the water, tomato paste, cinnamon, and lentils. Bring to a boil, then turn down heat, cover, and simmer for 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees. Stir the salt, raisins, and nuts into the rice. It should still be a little watery, add 1/4 cup water if it's dry. Place in a greased 9x13 pan, cover with foil, and bake for another 20 to 30 minutes.

Trust me, this is a very tasty recipe. I've served it for several different friends and they have all raved. It's kind of sweet, chewy, and crunchy all at the same time. It goes really well with a hearty salad. I like to serve it with this one:

Greek Salad
1/2 head romaine or green leaf lettuce
2-3 tomatoes, quartered
1 cucumber, peeled and sliced
1/2 green bell pepper, sliced
1/4 red onion thinly sliced
6 oz. feta cheese, broken in chunks
Black Kalamata olives (the recipe specifies 16, but I just buy a bunch and throw them in because I like them. You want the really strong olives here)

2 tbls. red wine vinegar
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. oregano
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. pepper
1/4 cup olive oil

Tear the lettuce into bite size pieces and mix together with everything else (you don't have to be super exact, and I personally like to use more lettuce, tomato, and cucumber, because it makes a lot of dressing and I don't like my salad to be too "slimy"). Whisk together the vinegar, garlic, and seasonings, then slowly pour the olive oil in while whisking to combine. Immediately add the dressing to the salad and mix well.

Broccoli Cheese Casserole

This is one of our favorite meatless meals. It's really easy to double the recipe too. I like to serve it with baked sweet potatoes and a nice green salad.

Broccoli Cheese Casserole

1 pkg. (10 oz.) frozen chopped broccoli, thawed & drained
1 c. sour cream
1 c. small curd cottage cheese
1/2 c. Bisquick baking mix
1/4 c. margarine or butter, melted
2 eggs
1 tomato peeled & sliced thin (optional)
1/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 8 x 8 x 2 inch baking dish and spread broccoli in dish. Beat sour cream, cottage cheese, Bisquick, margarine and eggs with mixer for 1 minute or until mostly smooth. Pour over broccoli. Arrange tomato slices on top; then sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Bake until golden brown and when a knife is inserted halfway between center and edge comes out clean, about 35-40 minutes. Serves 6-8.

new category

alrighty, we have several requests for the next category to be VEGETARIAN MEALS.